Publications

Made in Perth seeks to champion local writers, poets, artists, and other producers of culture.

Hunters: Wee Stories from the Crescent is a funny, sad, honest, uplifting memoir of growing up in Hunter Crescent in the 1970s and 1980s – an affectionate look at life on one of Scotland s working-class schemes. Hunter Crescent, a sprawling housing scheme just north of Perth city centre, was built after an act of parliament calling for slum areas to be replaced with modern housing. For its first thirty-five years, Hunters was a model scheme. By the mid-1970s, things had gone horribly wrong. It took a group of tenants to get the place back on an even keel. Hunters is published mid-November 2017.

Anthony Camilleri is very proud of his connection to Hunter Crescent and the local history of Perth. He also has a very keen interest in early cinema and Vaudeville acts naming Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers as his comedy heroes. Most Sunday afternoons Anthony can be found wandering round a stately home, castle, or palace with his girlfriend Gillian, both of whom are members of the National Trust. Every other Saturday he can be seen pulling out his hair at McDiarmid Park watching his beloved St Johnstone. Travel is also something Anthony enjoys, with Malta, Italy, and France being three of his favourite destinations.

Battles, regicides, executions, conspiracies, murders, floods, fires, crimes, punishments, and mayhem No Fair City by Gary Knight has them all. Delve into the darker side of historical Perth, where witches, smugglers, grave robbers, murderers, and thieves conduct their ghastly business. Learn how the guilty (and innocent) were tried, punished, and executed. Read how, in a world before health and safety, plague, fire, the merciless River Tay, and the Perth s lade, railways and roads, took their daily toll of townsfolk and visitors.

Gary Knight is a renowned historical storyteller with a passion for Scotland’s dark and dangerous past. He has worked throughout Scotland, and appeared on television and radio, with his company, History & Horror Tours.

No Fair City is available in paperback format. It is available online, from bookshops, and directly from the publisher: http://tippermuirbooks.co.uk

Mind the Time: an Anthology of Poetry is an anthology of poetry published to raise money for Football Memories Scotland.All of the poems draw on the core theme of triggering memory of the ‘good old days’ whether that is of a match, a team or a specific player.

‘Mind The Time is more than a book of football poetry – it’s a 194-page treasure trove that will raise funds for Football Memories, a fantastic programme using the national sport to unlock doors into the minds of men and women that may have been closed for years. In more than 120 groups across the country volunteers work with images from bygone days to tease out responses from the unresponsive, delving into the recesses of their memories to rekindle a fire from the smallest of flickering embers.’ Source: Daily Record, 4 June 2017.

The cultural theorist and philosopher Roland Barthes has rightly argued, ‘it was the advent of the photograph … which divides the [history of the] world.’ Since the creation of the first photographic images, the technology behind its application has expanded exponentially. Today, billions of people around the world own mobile phones with built-in cameras. Photography is more popular now than it has ever been. It has been estimated that as many photographs are taken on average in two minutes as were taken during the whole of the nineteenth century

The aim of The Early Photographers of Perthshire is to shine a light on the Big County’s part in Scottish photographic history. It is also a celebration and archive of the contributions, large and small, made by Perthshire’s early photographers. Be they, David Octavius Hill, ‘one of the finest calotypists in photographic history’; Jessie Mann and Lady Kinnaird, ‘rivals for the accolade of Scotland’s first female photographer’; or James Moyes, ‘who seems to have combined his commercial photography business with his job as a gravedigger.’

The Early Photographers of Perthshire has been written by two Perth locals: professional photographer Roben Antoniewicz and historian Dr Paul S. Philippou. This is the pair’s second collaboration. The first resulted in the publication in 2012 of the very well-received, Perth: Street by Street.

Roben Antoniewicz’s links to Perthshire photography began in the mid-nineteenth century. In the 1850s, his great, great, great grandfather David Wood of Wood & Son, printers and booksellers, sold photographic papers in his shop at 52 High Street. Later, his great grandfather, also called David Wood, began commissioning local photographers for the firm’s Woodall Series of ‘Perthshire view’ postcards. Roben’s personal photography was celebrated in 2003 when he won the annual ‘Schweppes Photographic Portrait Prize’ run by the National Portrait Gallery (London). The winning picture, a portrait of his granddaughter Mairead, was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery. Roben is fascinated by photography and over a period of many years he has enjoyed discovering photographs made by Perthshire photographers, many of which appear in this book.

Dr Paul S. Philippou is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of History, University of Dundee. In 2015, he was awarded a PhD by the university for his thesis, ‘There is only one P in Perth – And, it stands for Pullars!: the Labour, Trade-Union, and Co-operative Movements in Perth, c1867 to c1922’. Post-doctorate work by Paul includes ‘Mutually Hostile Parties?: the co- operative movement in Perth and its relationship with the labour movement, 1871-1918’, Scottish Labour History (2016). Paul has written other books: Spanish Thermopylae: Cypriot Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39; Perth: Street by Street (with Roben Antoniewicz); Battleground Perthshire: Two Thousand Years of Battles, Encounters and Skirmishes; and Born in Perthshire (the latter two with Rob Hands).

The Early Photographers of Perthshire is available in paperback format. It is available online, from bookshops, and directly from the publisher: http://tippermuirbooks.co.uk

Some Wars Never End: In this page-turning first novel, David W. Millar tells the story of Neil, an eighteen-year old who dreams of going to Cambridge University to study history. The trouble is, up until a recent Damascene conversion, Neil had been on track to pursue a career in the sciences. When he gains temporary employment in a care home for the elderly, Neil meets Oleg, a survivor of the Siege of Stalingrad. Oleg has witnessed his family murdered by German soldiers with his sister raped and killed. But the old Red Army veteran carries his own guilty secret from the war and is beset by nightmares. Neil and Oleg start up an uneasy friendship, which is brokered by Sheila, the care home manager. As the novel progresses, we meet Sheila’s son Harry, who has his own adventure. The story culminates in an unusual dénouement for Neil, Harry, Sheila, and Oleg. With its themes of love, guilt, friendship, and redemption, A Chocolate Soldieris a gripping novel that reminds us that we are always in a state of becoming.

David W. Millar is a retired science teacher with an interest in world history. He has written comedy sketches for television and stand-up comedians, composed humorous copy lines for over five hundred greeting cards in the UK and America, and written but not yet actively marketed two screenplays. This is his first novel.

A Chocolate Soldier is available in print and eBook formats. It is available online, from bookshops, and directly from the publisher: http://tippermuirbooks.co.uk

‘I still don’t know whether he was done for before we met, whether his heart was already claimed, or smashed. Whether the love story pieced together in these pages is mine, or hers.’

The day after her wedding, Donella Ferguson Watson wakes up shackled to a man haunted by the past. The lonely days become weeks, months. Her husband Hugh, a prison doctor, will offer no explanation for their sexless marriage. She comes to suspect the answer lies with a hunger-striking suffragette who was force fed and held in solitary confinement. But what really happened between Hugh and his prisoner patient? A Petrol Scented Spring is a riveting novel of repression, jealousy and love, and the struggle for women s emancipation.

Ajay Close is a Scottish-based dramatist and writer of literary fiction. Her novels explore the emotional flashpoints of place, politics and family. The psychological thriller Official and Doubtful, about a woman who kills her husband and goes on the run, was long-listed for the Orange Prize. (‘Brave, vulnerable, intensely observant and articulate, packed with life,’ John le Carré.) Forspoken features the daughter of a notorious countercultural psychiatrist who comes to believe she has been cursed. (‘A rare gift of combining tartness and empathy, intellectual reach and an up-to-speed take on contemporary madness,’ Candia McWilliam.) Trust is a story of women, men, love and money over three decades (“a serious book for grown-ups who want the world taken not with a pinch of salt but with something a little stronger.” Scotsman)
Her latest novel, A Petrol Scented Spring, is a riveting novel of repression, jealousy and love, and the struggle for women’s emancipation. It is available online and from bookshops.

Born in Perthshire comprises a series of short essays on well-known figures born within the historical county of Perthshire. Each topical and biographical piece includes an original associated illustration. The book also includes separate chapters entitled ‘A Brief Guide to a Few of the (Historical) Newspapers, Magazines, and Journals of Perth & District’ and ‘Honorary Burgesses & Honorary Freemen of Perth’.

Perth: A Comprehensive Guide for Locals and Visitors: Former Provost, Dr John Hulbert, presents locals and visitors alike with a comprehensive guide to Scotland’s newest city, Perth. Originally the capital of Scotland, Hulbert examines Perth’s development as a major settlement in Scotland through to the present day. Closely examining each area of Perth, complete with pictures and maps throughout, Hulbert guides readers around the city, and looks at the history and the people who have contributed to Perth’s success. John Hulbert was brought up in St Andrews, and studied medicine at Edinburgh University. After working in medical research he changed direction and worked for over 30 years as a general practitioner. In 1979 he and his wife and three children moved to the Perthshire village of Longforgan, in the Carse of Gowrie. In 1995 he was elected to Perth & Kinross Council, and served as Provost from 2007 – 2012. In 2010 Provost Hulbert led Perth’s high-profile 800th anniversary celebrations and then the successful campaign to recover the ancient dignity of City Status, which had been unceremoniously removed when Local government was reorganised in 1975. As Provost he studied Perth’s history and development, and gained a unique insight into its societies and institutions. He has visited and photographed all of its important buildings. This information has been crystallised into the first comprehensive guide-book for modern Perth. It is available online and from bookshops.

Perth: Street by Streetis an architectural, archaeological, geographical, historical, and visual journey around the city of Perth’s c.635 streets, avenues, closes, roads, and vennels. Drawing on a range of disciplines, Perth: Street by Street will appeal both to those readers interested in the history and life of Perth, and to anyone who has lived, worked, or spent time in Scotland’s Fair City. For the people of Perth and those who hail from St John’s Toun, the book will be particularly poignant. Within its pages, readers may find their own homes, workplaces, schools, favourite shops, and the public architecture and civic backdrop that form a part of their everyday existence.

Perth: Street by Street is also an attempt to create a snapshot of Perth in the year 2011 as a document for future and current researchers. As part of the research process for the book, the writer (accompanied by his then four-year old Cocker Spaniel, Cocoa Crunchie) walked every street in Perth over a nine-month period. This task involved observing and making notes about each street, and their associated buildings and businesses. Perth: Street by Street is consequently a personal journey around Perth: it includes that which the writer observed and that which his research has uncovered. Its authors are Paul Philippou and Roben Antoniewicz.

Kenneth Paul Stephenis a Perth-based award winning writer and PR guru. He won the David Toulmin short story prize in 2010 and the Scottish Book Trust new writer award in 2011/2012. His short stories have appeared in numerous collections, literary magazines, and anthologies. Sheep and Other Stories is book 1 in the Forgotten Scotland Mini-reads series. Set in the remote places of pre-Referendum Scotland, miles from Edinburgh and Glasgow, this mini collection of short stories focuses on the lost voices at the fringes of modern Scotland.

A sheep rustler searches for identity under motionless wind turbines on scarred moors, a list-making romantic seeks the perfect revenge and a poet finds her awakening among the broken arcades of a former seaside holiday town.

Forgotten Scotland Mini-reads are perfect for a journey, a commute, or a lay-by wait for Recovery assistance. The books are available online and from bookshops.

Donald N. M. Paton was born and educated in Perth. He has spent most of his working life in publishing and has maintained a lifetime interest in the literature, traditions, and culture of Scotland. As secretary of the Perth Burns Club for over 30 years, Donald has been the instigator of popular local events such as Perth’s Day of Scottish Culture now in its eleventh year. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Donald divides his year between Perth and West Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. He has written Twixt Castle and Mart, a history of Perth’s Needless Road (2005). Perth: As Others Saw Us (Tippermuir Books Ltd, 2014).

Perth: As Others Saw Us is a unique collection of writings on the Fair City of Perth by more than a hundred poets, journalists, writers, and local personalities. From the ‘Water Poet’ John Taylor in 1618 through to Her Majesty the Queen in 2012, Perth: As Others Saw Us offers a picture of Perth and its people across five centuries. The anthology includes entries by many well-known figures including Robert Burns, Billy Connolly, Stuart Cosgrove, Daniel Defoe, H. V. Morton, Carolina Oliphant, Beatrix Potter, and Sir Walter Scott. The compiler, Donald N. M. Paton, provides, a lucid introduction, and individual biographies of the various writers. The result is a volume of prose and poetry which is a pleasure to peruse and one the reader will return to time and again. It is available online, from bookshops, and directly from the publisher: http://tippermuirbooks.co.uk.

Jeremy Duncan a native of Perthshire was local studies librarian at the AK Bell Library in Perth until 2006. His books include: Lost Perth (Birlinn Limited, 2011), Perth and Kinross: the big county (John Donald, c. 1997), Perth: a Century of Change: the fair city 1900-2000 (Beedon, 2008), and A roof over one’s head: a short history of the Gannochy Trust (Gannochy Trust, 2012).

Lost Perth: ‘As one of Scotland’s most historically significant cities, Perth has played an important role in the nation’s story. Not surprisingly for a place that has seen continuous human settlement for thousands of years, much has come and gone over the centuries. The followers of Knox and Cromwell, and later the slum clearers, planners and developers, each had their own reasons for taking a pickaxe to Perth, but the cumulative effect of their actions has been to convert most of the ancient city to rubble and road inﬁll. This is the ﬁrst book to consider just how much of Perth has been lost over the centuries and why. As well as looking at the ancient monasteries and chapels and other great buildings such as Gowrie House, Cromwell’s hated citadel and the ﬁrst City Hall, Jeremy Duncan uncovers the vanished streets, waterways and open spaces, the once-cherished industries, beloved sporting venues and many other topics, ranging from schools and shops to post offices and prisons.’ It is available online and from bookshops.

Ajay Closeis a novelist, dramatist and former William Soutar fellow in Perth. Her first novel, Official and Doubtful, (Minerva, 1997) was longlisted for the Orange Prize. As a journalist, she wrote for Scotland on Sunday, the Scotsman, Herald and Sunday Herald, and won many awards. Her second novel Forspoken was published by Vintage in 1999. The Keekin Gless, her play about William Soutar, was staged by Perth Youth Theatre in 2009. In a Sma Room, a play with songs, toured east Scotland in 2012.

Trust: ‘The novel follows a set of characters with very different social backgrounds over three decades from the Miners’ Strike [of 1984-5] to the recent banking crisis. Lexa, Gabriel and Rae meet in the 1980s, that polarised decade of strikes and deprivation, serious money and conspicuous consumption. When the bank they work for brokers the sale of a privately owned coal mine and its miners join the national strike, the women are caught between the sexual war of attrition in their office and pitched battles on the picket-line. twenty-five years later, those awful yet exhilarating days are a distant memory. The three women remain friends, though Lexa and Rae are no longer bankers. Then Gabriel is caught up in the global financial crisis, and a face from the past returns with shocking news. Lexa must deal with the fallout from the choices she made in her twenties. But do the people she wants to protect deserve her protection – and at what price? A page-turning story about love, money, friendship, corrupted ideals and second chances, Trust asks searching questions about how people adapt over time – and how they stay the same.’ It is available online, from bookshops, and directly from the publisher: http://tippermuirbooks.co.uk.

Jess Smith lives in historical Glenturret, Perthshire. Her inspiration flows from the ghostly waterfalls, hills and mountains surrounding her countryside home. She comes from a long line of Travelling people and writes exclusively about her early years as a misty wanderer. Jess is also heavily involved in researching the ancestral roots of the Travelling people. Jess is famous for her biographical trilogy: Jessie’s Journey (Mercat Press, 2002 and Birlinn Limited, 2008), Tales from the Tent (Birlinn Limited, 2008), and Tears from a Tinker (Birlinn Limited, 2009). She has also written a novel Bruar’s Rest (Mercat Press, 2006) and a collection of stories for younger readers Sookin’ Berries (Birlinn Limited, 2009). Her most recent book is Way of the Wanderers: The Story of Travellers in Scotland (Birlinn Limited, 2012).

Way of the Wanderers: The Story of Travellers in Scotland: ‘TV programmes like My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, books like Gypsy Boy and the recent disturbances at Dale Farm have created enormous interest in the history and lifestyle of gypsies. Scottish gypsies, known as travellers, have wandered Scotland’s roads and byways for centuries, and their turbulent history is captured in this passionate new book by Jess Smith, the bestselling author of Jessie’s Journey. This is less a conventional history than a personal pilgrimage through the stories, songs and culture of a people for whom freedom is more important than security and a campfire under the stars is preferable to a warm hearth within stone walls. Settled society has always discriminated against travellers and Jess tells shocking stories of bullying, violence, the enforced break-up of families and separate schooling.

But drawing on her own and her family’s experiences, she also captures the magic and drama of days wandering the roads and working the land, and brings to life the travellers’ rich and vibrant traditions.’ It is available online and from bookshops.